THE huge esteem with which a quiet South Cumbrian hill farmer was held was shown by the fact that more than 200 people attended his funeral at the Kendal church where he was a much loved stalwart.

John Addison, who passed way peacefully in hospital at the age of 98, spent his entire working career at a remote hill farm and was a quiet and devoutly religious man whose faith guided his life.

From a farming family, Mr Addison had little formal education and after marrying in 1947, he and his wife Lizzy rented a farm at Graining Field near Lowgill.

In those days before mechanisation much of the work, including milking, was done by hand and he would often be found digging sheep out of snowdrifts, ploughing with horses or threshing oats by hand.

In his teenage years, he felt the call of Christ and committed himself to a life of devotion and loved to speak and sing about his faith with quiet but steadfast devotion.

He eventually became an elder at what is now Parr Street Evangelical Church in Kendal and was an ever present at prayer meetings until a few weeks before he died.

Mr Addison sang with the Orton Male Voice Gospel Choir for many years and though unable to drive after losing an eye 30 years ago, he would regularly visit the sick and frail in the area even when he was into his nineties, usually walking rather than catching the bus.

His wife died in 1977 so he lived alone without a TV for the last 42 years of his life, during which time he still grew most of his own food.

Mr Addison, who moved into Kendal after his retirement, had four children, all of whom are committed Christians serving in churches in various ways, and indeed three of his granddaughters are married to ministers.

He had 11 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren who made up the majority of the band which played at his funeral at a packed Parr Street Church, when the farewell of a remarkable and inspiring man was marked by wonderful singing which started spontaneously as the pianist played hymns while the congregation gathered.